2018
]]2018 is the 2,018th year of the Common Era and the 9th year of the 2010s. Events *20 January - Turkey begins a military operation to capture northern Syria from Kurdish SDF forces *20-22 January - The US government shuts down as the result over a dispute over the DACA program for young undocumented immigrants *9-25 February - Winter Olympics are held in Pyeongchang, South Korea *14 February - Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa after 9 years in power; a school shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida leaves 17 dead and 17 injured *4 March - Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia are poisoned with Novichok by Russian agents in Salisbury, England, and the UK government suspects the Kremlin's involvement *11 March - China removes term limits for leaders and makes Xi Jinping "President for Life" *14 March - Thousands of students across the USA take part in the National School Walkout in protest against gun violence and school shootings, especially the MSD shooting in Parkland *18 March - Vladimir Putin is re-elected as President of Russia for a fourth term *23 March - Islamic State sympathizer Redouane Lakdim kills a man in a carjacking in Carcassone, France before storming a Super U supermarket in Trebes, where he kills two more people and then mortally wounds policeman Arnaud Beltrame after he agrees to swap places with a hostage. He is killed when the police storm the building *24 March - In the "March for Our Lives", people in 900 cities across the world participate in demonstrations against mass shootings and gun violence, calling for stronger gun control *26 March - More than 100 Russian diplomats are expelled by more than 20 countries in reaction to the poisonings of Sergei and Yulia Skripal *5 April - Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is given an arrest warrant due to his past corruption scandals *8 April - Over 70 people are killed in a sarin chemical attack in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria *14 April - In the 2018 bombing of Damascus and Homs, the United States, Britain, and France bomb Syrian military bases in retaliation for the Syrian government's alleged role in the sarin attack in Ghouta *18 April - Protests in Nicaragua over the decreasing of retirement pension benefits lead to 34 deaths; Saudi cinemas open for the first time since 1983, with the American superhero film Black Panther chosen as the first to be screened *19 April - Miguel Diaz-Canel succeeds Raul Castro as President of Cuba, ending the Castro family's rule of the country since 1959 *23 April - Alek Minassian kills 10 and injures 16 in a vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Canada *27 April - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in in South Korea, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross over the Korean DMZ since its creation in 1953 *3 May - The Basque separatist group ETA dissolves after 40 years of conflict with Spain, which had caused over 800 deaths *8 May - President Donald Trump announces his intent to withdraw the United States from the Iranian nuclear compromise *9 May - The opposition Pakatan Harapan ends the 61-rule of the Barisan Nasional coalition in Malaysia, unseating the party for the first time since it came to power with independence in 1957 *19 May - Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle in England *24 May - North Korea destroys its Punggye-ri nuclear test site tunnels in a move to reduce regional tensions *25 May - Anti-abortion laws are repealed in Ireland *31 May - The USA announces new steel and aluminum tariffs against the EU, Canada, and Mexico *8-9 June - At the 44th G7 Summit, Trump pushes for the reinstatement of the G8 (to include Russia) and proposes the elimination of tariffs *12 June - Trump and Kim Jong-un meet for the first ever US-North Korea summit, in Singapore; that same day, Greece and Macedonia reach a deal to end a 27-year naming dispute, with Macedonia agreeing to rename itself to "North Macedonia" *14 June-15 July - The 2018 FIFA World Cup is held in Russia and won by France *19 June - The US withdraws from the UN Human Rights Council; Canada legalizes recreational marijuana *24 June - Saudi Arabia allows women to drive *6 July - Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara and six other cultists are executed for terrorism, while US tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods come into effect, starting the largest trade war in history *9 July - Eritrea and Ethiopia officially end their 20-year conflict *10 July - Twelve boys and their football coach are successfully rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand after a 17-day ordeal that gained worldwide attention; sadly, a rescue diver drowns while supplying more oxygen to the boys and their coach *17 July - The EU and Japan agree to the world's largest bilateral free trade deal *25 July - Scientists discover the first body of water on Mars *26 July - In the largest single-day loss in corporate history, Facebook loses $109 billion of its market value due to a data leak scandal *2 August - Apple Inc. becomes the world's first public company to achieve a market capitalization of $1 trillion *7 August - The USA reimposes sanctions on Iran *24 August - Scott Morrison succeeds Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia following a Liberal Party of Australia leadership contest *2 September - A fire destroys the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro *6 September - The Supreme Court of India decriminalizes homosexuality *20 September - The MV Nyerere capsizes on Lake Victoria, killing over 228 passengers *22 September - An attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, Iran kills at least 29 *28 September - An earthquake in Sulawesi, Indonesia kills over 2,256 people and injures over 10,679 *2 October - Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey by a hit squad sent by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. *10 October - Hurricane Michael makes landfall in Florida, the most intense hurricane to hit the US mainland since Camille in 1969 *16 October - Canada legalizes use and sale of cannabis, the second country in the world to do so, after Uruguay in 2013 *20 October - 700,000 people march through London to demand a second Brexit referendum *22 October-1 November - Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc sends packages containing pipe bombs to several prominent critics of Trump, including Democratic Party politicians, CNN, two former intelligence chiefs, Robert De Niro, and George Soros, among others *23 October - The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge, is opened by Xi Jinping *27 October - Michael D. Higgins becomes President of Ireland; American neo-Nazi Robert Bowers kills 11 and injures 7 in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. *28 October - Far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro is elected President of Brazil with 55% of the vote *4 November - New Caledonia votes against independence from France *8 November - The Camp Fire ignites in Butte County, becoming California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire; it kills 88 and destroys 18,804 buildings, including the entire town of Paradise *11 November - The World War I centenary is celebrated in Paris *26 November - A NASA probe successfully lands on the surface of Mars *27 November - Ukraine declares martial law after the Kerch Strait incident with Russia, leading to the schism of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church. *1-8 December - The Yellow vests movement protests erupt in France in response to a new gas tax which unfairly benefits the rich, leading to hundreds of injuries, thousands of arrests, the burning of over 100 cars, the vandalization of the Arc de Triomphe, and the closing of tourist sites both in Paris and across the country *7 December - The UN reports that, by the end of the year, over half of the world's population will be using the Internet *21 December - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 22,445 after its worse week since the Great Recession in 2008 *22 December - A tsunami hits the Sunda Strait of Indonesia, killing over 222 and injuring over 700; that same day, President Donald Trump orders a government shutdown due to the US Congress' refusal to fund his Mexican border wall project. *26 December - Donald Trump and Melania Trump make an uannounced post-Christmas visit to troops at the al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, their first visit to a combat zone since taking office. Iraqi officials refuse to meet with them, and, the next day, the Iraqi Council of Representatives demands the withdrawal of US forces from the country *30 December - The Taliban rejects peace talks with the Afghan government, ending years of progress made under US President Barack Obama's administration. *Notable deaths include Thomas S. Monson, Peter Sutherland, Dolores O'Riordan, Billy Graham, Sridevi, Stephen Hawking, Zell Miller, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Milos Forman, R. Lee Ermey, Barbara Bush, Bruno Sammartino, Avicii, Verne Troyer, George Deukmejian, Margot Kidder, Philip Roth, Anthony Bourdain, Charles Krauthammer, Joe Jackson (Michael Jackson's father), Peter Carington, Aretha Franklin, Kofi Annan, John McCain, Neil Simon, Alexander Zakharchenko, Burt Reynolds, Mac Miller, Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane, Paul Allen, Stan Lee, Stephen Hillenburg, George H.W. Bush, Belisario Betancur, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Girma Wolde-Giorgis, Penny Marshall, Paddy Ashdown, and Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. Category:Years